AuthorTopic: The Most English Beatle ? (Read 6804 times)

Which Beatle do you think was the most English , in terms of their writing and attitude ?I think all of them lost a certain amount of Englishness through their fame and travelling .George and Paul always struck me as been more at ease with their Englishness , whie John and Ringo seem more mid Atlantic ? (smile)

What an interesting question. Off the top of my head, I would say it's probably Paul who's retained most of his "Englishness." I think I read somewhere in his book that he was rather taken aback at how "American" John's manner of speaking seemed after moving to New York, as though Paul were somewhat uncomfortable with that.

I can see John and Ringo embracing outside customs and ways more easily, whereas I feel that Paul would cling on to his English nationality more. I'm sure he's gotten a healthy dose of American culture, however, from his love of American music and from Linda and Nancy. As for George, I think his heart and being truly belonged in India, although I don't suppose he ever lost his dry British sense of humor.

I've gone with George , his love of gardening is very English , his love of India is also very English .His songs although universal in theme also have a English feel to them , think it's it's due to the fact he had a very dry English/British sense of humour and a certain eccentricity about him ?

It's funny. When they first came over and got their first impressions of America, Paul said the snottiest things. Then, he ends up having a great and long lasting marriage to an American girl, loses her, has a short and horrible marriage to an English girl, and then goes back into a great relationship with another American girl. See what I'm saying about stereotypes? I'm sure he's learned not to make such generalizations.

BTW, I'm NOT implying girls from one place are better than girls from other places. My point is about his arrogant attitude and how it ended up being just that, arrogance based on limited exposure to people.

It's funny. When they first came over and got their first impressions of America, Paul said the snottiest things. Then, he ends up having a great and long lasting marriage to an American girl, loses her, has a short and horrible marriage to an English girl, and then goes back into a great relationship with another American girl. See what I'm saying about stereotypes? I'm sure he's learned not to make such generalizations.

BTW, I'm NOT implying girls from one place are better than girls from other places. My point is about his arrogant attitude and how it ended up being just that, arrogance based on limited exposure to people.

Feel like I had to clarify that before the backlash.

No backlash. What snotty things did Paul say, exactly? He was probably naive and ignorant back when he was young. Lots of outsiders believe in terrible stereotypes about Americans, anyhow. :-/

Not when George married her. By then she was Mexican-American. Just like we're all Something-American. She was raised and educated in America and is an American citizen. Yoko on the other hand. Well, I have no idea how long she was over here before marrying John. She still doesn't seem American. She just seems, Yoko.

^^^^ Don't you think Yoko as a certain English prissiness about her , especially when she speaks , think that might of rubbed off from John ?Paul seems quite cosmoplitain he's got the British/American thing, his Irish roots and his love of Scotland ?

Yes! Yoko does seem more European for sure. But more high society than John. Probably due to her upbringing. And cosmopolitan is the perfect word for Paul. He seems to be able to absorb the best of all cultures or something like that. But he also seems the most proud of his roots and the most connected to his working class past. Like when he saw The Rutles and was a little weary. Then he found out where Eric Idle was from and said, "It's okay Linda, he's a scouse!" Or something like that. Idle says it on the commentary. I don't think the other three ever cared about stuff like that. I think it's cool though cuz it is so much a part of them.

Found this quote about japanese culture; "Japanese people tend to shy away from overt displays of emotion, and rarely smile or frown with their mouths, Yuki explained, because the Japanese culture tends to emphasize conformity, humbleness and emotional suppression, traits that are thought to promote better relationships."